7 Going To State Track, Field Meet

May 6, 1986|By Frank Carroll of The Sentinel Staff

Seven Osceola County athletes -- six from Kissimmee Osceola High School and St. Cloud High freshman Tammy Chamberlin -- have qualified to take part in the Class AAA state track and field meet Friday at Winter Park's Showalter Field. Kissimmee Gateway, in its inaugural track season, did not qualify an athlete for last week's Class A meet at Showalter.

The group earned the trip to state during Thursday's 31-team Region 2 meet at the University of Florida in Gainesville, termed by Osceola Kowboys Coach Mal Harpell as ''one of the toughest regionals I've ever seen.'' At regional, the top four qualifiers in each of 16 events advance to state.

Joining Chamberlin, the Bulldogs' long-distance 2-mile sensation, are OHS senior Jon Rinkus, who placed second with a pole vault of 13 feet, 6 inches; junior David Spencer, second in the 120-yard high hurdles (14.9); and the Kowgirls' mile medley relay (Victoria Brown, Renita King, Monica Cave and Debbie Rao), which recorded its best time of the 1986 season (4:25.3) and placed third.

Chamberlin produced St. Cloud's only points, sprinting to a fourth-place ribbon in 12:16, 12 seconds slower than her school-record 12:04 at the district meet where Osceola and St. Cloud had qualified 46 athletes for regional competition.

''When you get that far up the ladder, the competition is very tough,'' Bulldogs Coach John Wallauer said.

Osceola senior Kim Masington's three-year goal has been to run a sub-minute time in the quarter mile. Masington did in Gainesville, but 59.7 was the fifth-best time and not good enough to win a trip to state.

The Kowboys' 440 relay was one of six Osceola entries that recorded season- best efforts, but failed to finish in the top four. Damon Thomas, Thomas Pouncy, Elancer Coats and Mickey Collier ran 43.8, a half-second faster than their previous best, but only good for sixth place in Gainesville.

The mile relay team Pouncy, Thomas, Rinkus and Collier cut four seconds off its previous best (3:32) to place sixth in 3:28. Spencer's 40.3 in the 330- yard intermediate hurdles was fifth and freshman Steve Kania's discus throw of 139-2 was sixth. Seventh place finishes belonged to the Kowgirls' mile relay Sarah Sallee, Karen Shope, Rao, Masington in 4:17 and Collier in the 100-meter dash (11.2).